When I worked with the exotic vet we still use, he and another vet would routinely stay late and take care of small animals that parents brought in but would refuse to pay for. They also sometimes paid for meds or supplies out of their own pockets. They knew the parents wouldn't spend anything for "just" a hamster, parakeet, guinea pig, etc. The people thought that a "cheap" animal should have a $10 vet bill or something, or, mostly, they took the animal in for show to shut their kid up but didn't really care.

But, you know, I mostly just feel sorry for these people. What a sad, miserable existence to have such a puny, hard heart. My pets have always made my heart grow bigger; they miss out on that.

Yes, this makes me so mad. People at work made fun of me for paying $300 to have a tumor removed from my hamster. The tumor was necrotic, so it was either surgery or death. They called me a sucker for spending "so much on a rodent" (also, for a vet $300 is small potatoes).

My mom was complaining at her Bible club meeting that their blue and gold macaw was stressing her out from all his screaming (he's 40, was probably upset because they moved from CA to WA after living in one place for 25 years, poor guy!) and the members of her group asked if she would like for them to pray for him to die. Real Christianly, that group!

When I worked with the exotic vet we still use, he and another vet would routinely stay late and take care of small animals that parents brought in but would refuse to pay for. They also sometimes paid for meds or supplies out of their own pockets. They knew the parents wouldn't spend anything for "just" a hamster, parakeet, guinea pig, etc. The people thought that a "cheap" animal should have a $10 vet bill or something, or, mostly, they took the animal in for show to shut their kid up but didn't really care.

But, you know, I mostly just feel sorry for these people. What a sad, miserable existence to have such a puny, hard heart. My pets have always made my heart grow bigger; they miss out on that.

Yes, this makes me so mad. People at work made fun of me for paying $300 to have a tumor removed from my hamster. The tumor was necrotic, so it was either surgery or death. They called me a sucker for spending "so much on a rodent" (also, for a vet $300 is small potatoes).

My mom was complaining at her Bible club meeting that their blue and gold macaw was stressing her out from all his screaming (he's 40, was probably upset because they moved from CA to WA after living in one place for 25 years, poor guy!) and the members of her group asked if she would like for them to pray for him to die. Real Christianly, that group!

That's just awful! If you believe in prayer as an effective tool for getting stuff done, why would you pray for something to die just because it is a little annoying or inconvenient? Who would even think of that?

I know!! My mom and I were/are speechless. For some context, I know she was expressing regret that they had ever taken on a big responsibility like a macaw, but how about praying to find a family to rehome him with or something and not...death.

Wow. In college, I and my mother had the bright idea to get me a cockatiel. It was the beginning of summer. I brought the cockatiel home and within a few weeks, I developed hives all over my body. Should I mention it was summer and I was taking summer classes and working? I went to the doctor (which involved my mom driving 30 miles to pick me up, take me to the doctor near their house and then drive me back). Doctor told me it couldn't be the cockatiel, prescribes me steroids. I continue to be an itchy, hivey mess. After nearly 3 months of living with the bird, I decided enough was enough and begged my mom to take the bird while I tried to find a home. My mom took him in but we had a cat that was way too interested in him. My hives also disappeared as soon as he was out. I then found someone who had other birds and was happy to take him in with them. I'm not really fond of birds any more due to my experience BUT I can't imagine doing anything other than what I did although in hind sight, keeping him so long was probably a bad idea. Luckily my lungs didn't close up or anything due to the allergy.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

When I worked with the exotic vet we still use, he and another vet would routinely stay late and take care of small animals that parents brought in but would refuse to pay for. They also sometimes paid for meds or supplies out of their own pockets. They knew the parents wouldn't spend anything for "just" a hamster, parakeet, guinea pig, etc. The people thought that a "cheap" animal should have a $10 vet bill or something, or, mostly, they took the animal in for show to shut their kid up but didn't really care.

But, you know, I mostly just feel sorry for these people. What a sad, miserable existence to have such a puny, hard heart. My pets have always made my heart grow bigger; they miss out on that.

Yes, this makes me so mad. People at work made fun of me for paying $300 to have a tumor removed from my hamster. The tumor was necrotic, so it was either surgery or death. They called me a sucker for spending "so much on a rodent" (also, for a vet $300 is small potatoes).

My mom was complaining at her Bible club meeting that their blue and gold macaw was stressing her out from all his screaming (he's 40, was probably upset because they moved from CA to WA after living in one place for 25 years, poor guy!) and the members of her group asked if she would like for them to pray for him to die. Real Christianly, that group!

wow, just wow. It's precisely because we predict that we would get a similarly horrible reaction that kept our mouths shut about having to shell out $600 to get our gerbil's tumor removed. The staff at the vet were fawning over us doing that for the gerbil, I got the impression that they had never dealt with anyone that did anything beyond just getting their small animals put down when they got sick.

All that being said, sadly his brother Lenny died suddenly shortly after Karl's surgery but Karl is still kicking a good 6 months later (he's about 3.5 now) so screw the folks that don't get it.

When I worked with the exotic vet we still use, he and another vet would routinely stay late and take care of small animals that parents brought in but would refuse to pay for. They also sometimes paid for meds or supplies out of their own pockets. They knew the parents wouldn't spend anything for "just" a hamster, parakeet, guinea pig, etc. The people thought that a "cheap" animal should have a $10 vet bill or something, or, mostly, they took the animal in for show to shut their kid up but didn't really care.

But, you know, I mostly just feel sorry for these people. What a sad, miserable existence to have such a puny, hard heart. My pets have always made my heart grow bigger; they miss out on that.

Yes, this makes me so mad. People at work made fun of me for paying $300 to have a tumor removed from my hamster. The tumor was necrotic, so it was either surgery or death. They called me a sucker for spending "so much on a rodent" (also, for a vet $300 is small potatoes).

My mom was complaining at her Bible club meeting that their blue and gold macaw was stressing her out from all his screaming (he's 40, was probably upset because they moved from CA to WA after living in one place for 25 years, poor guy!) and the members of her group asked if she would like for them to pray for him to die. Real Christianly, that group!

That's just awful! If you believe in prayer as an effective tool for getting stuff done, why would you pray for something to die just because it is a little annoying or inconvenient? Who would even think of that?

Exactly. Why wouldn't you pray that the bird was no longer upset and started enjoying his new home?

I often get labeled as a crazy cat lady because Mar gets good food, vet visits and toys...Why is it crazy and not just pure love? Soooo....I have a tattoo of Mar's face on my arm and talk to cats...Still no problem! :P

I am tired of people who think that a justifiable option to a vet bill is killing it*. From injured dogs, to not picking up a cat from the pound, paying the fee to get out...

I know!! My mom and I were/are speechless. For some context, I know she was expressing regret that they had ever taken on a big responsibility like a macaw, but how about praying to find a family to rehome him with or something and not...death.

Jesus. Usually people respect spending vet money on parrots because they are expensive pets, which, of course, makes them worth more. I wonder if this argument would work on Molly since the "he is bigger than you, you twit!" argument fails.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

I'm not a big fan of birds as pets, I just don't "get" them. So I just wont own pets.

But my husband is starting to use my previous comments of "birds don't have souls" as a reason for my BIL to not get one (said in jest.. mostly), as a reason why I should be comfortable eating chicken still.

Birds are definitely unique. But they have such an amazing, enormous capacity for affection. One of the big things with birds though is that they are empathetic rather than sympathetic. Molly isn't going to come give me snuggles when I feel sad--she will just worry and fret and feel sad herself (to some degree). But if I give her snuggles that are just snuggly and affectionate, she will give them back to me threefold. You have to be really careful what emotions you project around them.

You also have to respect their attempts to integrate you into their flock, like always answering contact calls and following their rules. They have lots of rules. Molly gives me exactly 2 minutes to kiss her goodbye in the morning once I come upstairs. I get bitched at if I am late. How these develop is a mystery, but all 3 of our birds have these complex systems of rules with specific punishments meted out for failure to adhere.

People also think you are nuts because nobody believes half of this stuff unless they are also bossed around by a bird.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk